Day 21 - Ask Yourself: "Do I Really Want To Do What I Am About To Do Today?" - 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge
“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”― Steve Jobs
It's so easy to get into a rut and forget why we are doing the things that we do. The way our society is structured in most areas of the world makes most people get trapped in a hamster wheel.
Work, home, take the kids to and from school, weekend trips or home activities, rent or mortgage to pay ... everything is structured and pre-determined and happens at such a fast pace that there is no more time for asking serious questions like:
"do I like my life as it is now?"
"do I like my job?"
"am I excited about what I'm going to do today?"
"do I still follow my dreams?"
Everyone wants something from us, every moment, every day. So it's not uncommon to put ourselves and our desires on hold, until "the kids go to college", "the mortgage is paid", "my partner finishes his studies" and so on and so forth.
But, we have no guarantee that we'll be around for so long. An accident can happen anytime. Each and every one of us can disappear at any moment.
I don't want to frighten you, but this is the truth. And it's good to remind ourselves, at least for today, that we don't have eternity to live on Earth.
So today, let's find out if our actions are aligned with our heart's deepest desires.
Day 21 - Ask Yourself: "Do I Really Want To Do What I Am About To Do Today?"
This is a continuation of Day 20: every time you need to do something ask yourself: "do I really want to do this?"
If the answer is No for many times throughout your day ... you might need to reconsider what you are doing.
Of course, I'm not talking here about the actions that you must do, regardless of your liking or not, like changing the baby's diaper or loading another round of laundry in the washing machine.
Although even with these actions, you might discover you could use some help. So you could then talk with your partner and find ways to take turns sometimes so you can have some rest when you need to.
I found this question to be very powerful and a great tool to make sure I'm on the right track. Asking myself this questions showed me when I needed to change a job or move in a new place, in a new neighborhood. It can be applied to any area of your life.
!Warning! This is a very powerful and potentially dangerous exercise if you are stuck in a job you hate or in a compromise relationship. You might feel like quitting your job or saying "goodbye" to your current partner, at the end of the day. Don't rush, though! :) Review the exercise we did on Day 19 to make sure your actions will be from a place of awareness and not from your ego's mind.
I'd suggest to ask yourself the question in the morning when you wake up but also many times throughout your day.
Ask it even about the most mundane and so-called "small" things you need to do. Practice as many times as possible with it, and listen to the answer coming from your gut, not to the one from your head.
Breathe deeply, do not fall into judging and try not to take yourself too seriously.
If you can sometimes laugh at what you discover, you get extra karma points. :)
That was today's practice, try it out and let me know how it went, I'd love to hear from you.
A note on The 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge. I initially published this challenge 2 years ago on my blog Being Raluca and I'm using those articles as a base for this one. I sometimes rewrite 80% of the article, other times I keep more of the original version and rewrite and add less new content.
I'm a psychologist, intuitive coach, blogger and vlogger. You can find me mainly on my blog at Being Raluca where I write about communication, relationships, listening and sexuality. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @raluca.
